1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rain gutters, and more particularly, to a rain gutter end cap with front and end walls contoured to correspond to the contours of an attached gutter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rain gutters are commonly used to carry rainwater from the roof of a house or other structure to a desired location on the ground. Typically, they are continuous lengths of metal formed with an open top, a front wall, a bottom and a back wall. The back wall is normally positioned flush against a vertical surface on the house or other structure such that the open top is positioned under the bottom edge of the roof. For aesthetic purposes, the front wall is usually formed with at least one decorative ridge or crease extending the length of the gutter.
End caps are used to close off the ends of a gutter where the gutter does not extend completely around the periphery of a house. These end caps consist of a flat vertical wall with edges that mate with the bottom and walls of the gutter. Unfortunately, these end caps suffer one well-known drawback. Because the flat vertical surface of an end cap contrasts sharply with the contoured surface of a front wall, the end caps are conspicuously unsightly.
Examples of gutter end caps that are comprised of a flat vertical wall are provided by U.S. Design Pat. No. 297,561 issued on Sep. 6, 1988 to P. P. Leisemann; U.S. Pat. No. 1,460,733 issued on May 25, 1922 to T. Rigby; U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,370 issued Mar. 6, 1979 to L. G. Giordano; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,097 issued on Oct. 4, 1983 to J. H. Allen.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,800 issued Sep. 21, 1993 to R. G. Davenport teaches a gutter end cap having a curved outside end wall and interior sloped flat walls to help the flow of water into the gutter. However, the interior walls of this end cap present at least four known drawbacks. First, the interior walls add time and expense to the manufacture of the end cap. Second, the interior walls increase the time and complexity of installation of the end cap. Third, the interior walls prevent the end caps from being easily stacked, stored and transported. And fourth, the interstice between the interior and outer walls provide an ideal nesting location for bees and other insects.
Consequently, none of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a gutter end cap solving the aforementioned problem is desired.